Is golf a sport?

I was bemused by the recent article in one of the major golf publications that polled famous athletes who play golf. The question was: Is golf a sport?

I generally don’t regard this sort of triviality as worthy of my time, preferring instead to debate more weighty issues such as the viability of economic sanctions and their effect on the Palestinian political evolution, why anyone would even consider drinking Michelob Ultra, why anyone would even consider bowling, or why anyone would even consider having a Michelob Ultra while bowling. But I digress.

Even though many famous athletes who stood out as icons of their sport declared golf a more difficult endeavor (including Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky), many of the athletes interviewed for this article derided golf as less of a sport and more of a game or a pastime.

They cited certain out-of-shape PGA Professionals who shall remain nameless (Lumpy, John Daly), mentioned the lack of stamina required, even stooping so low as to bring golf attire into the question, as if that makes a difference.

So is golf a game or a sport? A pastime or an athletic event? The American Heritage Dictionary calls it a game, but Wikipedia calls it a sport. O bother!

The Random House Word Menu doesn’t mention golf in its list of outdoor games (it does cite miniature golf), but includes such arcane activities as bandy, pall-mall and tipcat. And we all know how physically trying they can be.

On the other hand, golf is included in its list of sports, although so is bandy, bolo ball and something called sambo wrestling. And we all know how somnambulistic they can be.

OK. So we’re no closer to our answer.

Is a sport a sport simply because it uses major muscle groups and causes major perspiration? Are finesse and intelligence a consideration? Let’s consider the ultimate example of a sport and a game and work towards an understanding of just what the hell golf really is.

Rugby and chess.

Rugby is essentially the exclusive use of major muscle groups in the attempt to inflict humiliating injuries on the opposing team, while incidentally scoring the odd try. While mental acuity and physical finesse are a bonus, these are minimal in their importance to the sport.

With chess, on the other hand, no physicality is required whatsoever; a computer is all that’s necessary. But mental intensity and finesse are everything. That’s a game.

Golf is obviously then, an amalgam of sports and games. On the one hand, you have to walk five miles up and down hills. Stamina is required.

You must marry a tiny point on a clubhead, six feet from your body, traveling at about 100 miles per hour, with a precise point on a ball. You must do this on a perfect swing plane using 22 muscle groups.

Physical finesse is required. You must determine the routing of the ball according to the hole layout, your lie, the wind and other factors such as that nasty tree on No. 6.

You must ignore the head games of your opponents, especially if you play with the miscreants I am burdened with on a regular basis.

So golf requires mental sharpness and the ability to take a number of factors, process them and make the wrong decision. I think we can say with unequivocal preciseness that golf is a mental/physical game/sport.

No other pastime/sport/game requires the total integration of strength, finesse and mental discipline as does golf.

5 Responses

Golf is an activity , notice I didn’t say sport or game, that I would encourage my grandson to learn to play, work at and become very good at a very young age. I would know that he would be able to participate his whole life while preserving his body. On the other hand I wouldn’t discourage him from participating in baseball, football or other sports, it is his life. I do know that if he chose golf, liked it and worked at it he could become good at it, even on the club level, (more likely than making the big leagues in any sport). I know he would do just fine on the golf course, even when he got older, beating and taking the money from the people his age who were now “over the hill” due to age or injury in thoes other sports.
I recently saw an interview of Bubba Watson where he said as a teenager he was on the golf course taking the money from the parents of his peers who were doing their own thing, sports, hanging out ect.
Yeah, it’s a sport you can play your whole life.

Strength? Folks who golf well do not need to be strong. Stamina? Walking 5 miles over several hours with clubs on uneven ground does not require stamina, just basic human
health. Folks who don’t have the stamina for a round of golf are in bad health and that does not mean that those who can play 18 holes are physically fit.